Prediction

The Dems take the house this fall. I know it's too early to tell, but finally...FINALLY, the dems are looking like a party that deserves to be taken seriously. Joe Biden has put forth a new plan for Iraq, basically grabbing one of the arguments in the most recent issue of Foreign Affairs.

The plan is well summarized here:

The first is to establish three largely autonomous regions with a viable central government in Baghdad.

...The second element would be to entice the Sunnis into joining the federal system with an offer they couldn't refuse. ...The Constitution must be amended to guarantee Sunni areas 20 percent (approximately their proportion of the population) of all revenues. ...The third component would be to ensure the protection of the rights of women and ethno-religious minorities by increasing American aid to Iraq but tying it to respect for those rights.

...Fourth, the president must direct the military to design a plan for withdrawing and redeploying our troops from Iraq by 2008 (while providing for a small but effective residual force to combat terrorists and keep the neighbors honest).

...Fifth, under an international or United Nations umbrella, we should convene a regional conference to pledge respect for Iraq's borders and its federal system.

Now was it really that hard?

Don't get me wrong. It might not work. Frontpage writes a critique of it. But now, they are the ones looking like idiots reacting to a plan that may work better than the current plan, which doesn't seem to be working well at all.

If the Dems continue along this path and put forth the position: "look, we take this war seriously, we've given Bush and Rummy a chance, and their plan isn't working as well as our alternative will. Anyhow, let's test it out."

If they just take that position and quit with the Bush bashing and moaning and whining about the Republicans and talk seriously about how to deal with Iran, and Al Queda, well, it would be damn easy to win the House back, and shit, even the Presidency. The problem, of course, is that party doesn't have any electable candidates with solid national security credentials.

Bush would have to pull Osama Bin Laden out of his ass to save the Republican House. Then again, I have about as much faith in the Dems falling over themselves like a bunch of morons as I do in Bush's ability to catch Bin Laden.

But seriously, and I'm going off a little here, why stop with Biden's plan for Iraq, why not offer an entire plan to combat and defeat Islamic Fascism. A plan to catch Bin Laden, a plan to stop the Muslim Brotherhood from establishing an independent financial system, a plan to stop Iran from developing or using nukes.

I mean, shit, I would at least take a democrat seriously who came out with a plan for Iran. Even if he/she said: we aren't going to attack Iran. What we are going to do is hold them responsible. First, they have gone on record a million times that they only want reactors for peaceful purposes. Iran, we know, relies upon selling their oil. If there is evidence that they develop nuclear weapons, their ability to sell oil to any other country in the world will be immediately revoked. If a single country violates that sanction and purchases Iranian oil, we'll blow up their entire oil industry. If they ever use a nuke or give it to a terrorist group, their major cities will be destroyed. That simple. At least it's a plan. Maybe there is a better plan. Maybe it would be smarter to blow up their nuclear facilities before they create the bomb.

It just comes down to a choice. And frankly, I don't think America trusts the Republican party to make that choice right now. All the Democrats need to do is provide an alternative, something they haven't done for three years now.

If the Republican's were smart, they'd beat the Dems to the punch, have Rumsfeld step down and lay out a new strategy for Iraq, or adjust the strategy, because "Stay the Course," has completely lost it's appeal. But there is no evidence to suggest the Republicans are smart.